Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro: An Even Hotter Hatch

Every year, the German village of Wörthersee hosts Volkswagen and Audi fans from around the world who show off their classic, collectible and tuned cars.

This year, Audi will have them all beat.

For the 30th anniversary of the car meet, the automaker is bringing an über-customized A1 that weighs just over 3,000 lbs. and can do 0-62 in only 3.7 seconds. The one-off A1 Clubsport Quattro borrows some parts from the TT RS and RS 3 sportback, but all of them are specially tuned to create the hottest hatch ever to emerge from Ingolstadt.

Under the tiny hood is a 2.5 liter turbocharged, direct injection TFSI five-cylinder engine running on gasoline. It’s the same powerplant found in the TT RS, but tuned to produce 503 horsepower and 486.79 pound-feet of torque. That mill is mated to a six-speed manual transmission and Quattro all-wheel drive.

To lose weight, Audi replaced the roof with a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer top, swapped the back seat for a crossbrace and deleted MMI and speakers. Even the door handles have been turned in for simple, red leather straps. Otherwise, Audi calls the interior “a study in dark gray.”

That sexy exterior is purely coincidental, as the design process saw function triumphing over form. No photos are available yet, but Audi is teasing us with design renderings so hot you could get fired for viewing them at work. Split air intakes divide the front skirt, while the engine vents through two hood outlets. The “blistering” rear fenders echo the ur-Quattro, while the exhaust vents behind the driver’s side door a la A4 DTM. And those wheels! The 19-inch turbine style alloys hide six-piston calipers at the front.

Want some time behind the wheel? Too bad. Only one car will be built, but you can still hoon around in a virtual Clubsport Quattro in Need For Speed World, where Audi is “renting” the car between June 1 and 4.